The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most recognisable structures in the German capital Berlin. Built just north of the parliament The Reichstag it was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II as a sign of peace and was built between 1788 and 1791. The gate is huge, it is 26 metres high and 65 metres wide and 11 metres thick. The centerpiece of the gateway is the beautiful sculpture on the top which shows Viktoria the goddess of victory driving a Quadriga of horses. The Brandenburg gate has been an important symbol of Berlin and has been used as the focal point of many historic events; The Nazis used the gate as their symbol when they ascended to power. Strangely it was one of the few structures in the Pariser Plaz during the bombing raids of World War II. US President John F Kennedy visited the gate in 1863 and was confronted by huge Soviet banners preventing him looking into the east. In 1987 the then US President Ronald Regan spoke at the gate demanding its opening and then two years later the Brandenburg gate symbolized the revolution of 1989 which saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the chancellor of West Germany Helmut Kohl greeted the East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow. Now after a 2000 restoration the Brandenburg gate will stand proudly and no doubt be the centre point of Berlin’s history in the future.
